Question

Which of the following played a larger part in world war 2: World War One, the rise of totalitarian dictators, or the Depression? Give at least three pieces of evidence to support your answer.

Answer 1

The Depression.
World War 1, by early 1929 (before the wall street crash) had ceased to really have detrimental effects on the nations of WW2. Thanks to the Dawes and Young plans (american help schemes) germany had less reparations to pay and more money to pay them with. Britain and France had essentially recovered, Russia was doing it's own communist thing and was revolutionising its industrial power (stalin's 5 year plans) and Germany was well on the way to recovery. Whilst the terms of the Treaty of Versailles still had negative implications on the society of germany, they could have been negotiated and they didn't cause enough anger to start a war.
Therefore, it isn't world war 1.
The totalitarian dictators in question are Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. Hitler is the key to the beginning of World War 2. Him and his Nazi policies are the spark that lit the tinder of WW2. Stalin did little (except the nazi-soviet pact) to begin the war, and that which he did do would probably have also been done by a democratic government. Mussolini alone hadn't the power to start the war and that is why Italy plays a small part in the War. Therefore hitler is the one to blame in that respect and the rise of HIM played a massive part in the onset of WW2.
However, we must think HOW hitler came to power. Before the wall street crash, Gustav Stressemann presided over Weimar Germany, and led the nation through a glorious Golden Age of recovery, in economy, society, and international relations. He died weeks before the wall street crash. These two events led to Germany's economic downfall and a vast increase in the unhappiness of German citizens. Such anger leads to radicalism - the radical in this case being Hitler and his Nazis. If it were not for the depression, weimar germany would have been able to continue recovering and Hitler would not even have come to power.
Therefore WW1 had little effect, the rise of totalitarian dictators was important, but the depression was much more important because it gave rise to Hitler and the warmongering attitudes.